Sunday, June 20, 2010

Bats in the Dell. See?

If you haven't heard Porgy and Bess live with bats flying overhead and fireflies twinkling all around, you have truly missed one of the great pleasures of summertime in Richmond.

As magical as tonight's performance of it was for me, it was made even more so by sharing it with a recent transplant from NYC, one who had never experienced a Dogwood Dell performance.

The city's 54th Festival of the Arts is in full swing and having missed Virginia Opera's performance of Porgy and Bess last month due to financial constraints, I was eagerly anticipating tonight's show of highlights from it.

It had been so incredibly hot today that the musicians and singers were not able to even do a sound check until 7:30, so we arrived to the sounds of a mini-preview as they worked out the audio kinks.

There were five of us and we set up camp on a quilt and chairs in a shady spot on the grass and laid out food and libations.

We had wondered if the temperature would deter people from coming to the park, but no.

Like us, there were plenty of people more than happy to spend a warm night outside for the sake of some classic American music.

Free was undoubtedly also an incentive for many.

The program started with Rhapsody in Blue, followed by Japanese and then excerpts from An American in Paris.

And then the concert highlights from Porgy and Bess began, fourteen pieces in all.

Children danced, couples cuddled and fanned each other, while the rest of us just took in the magnificent sounds of a baritone, a soprano and a chorus teasing us with bits from Gershwin's masterpiece.

At dusk the fireflies came out followed shortly by the swooping bats and the light at the top of the Carillon was turned on.

By that point, it wasn't just the transplant who was swooning over the experience; we all felt like we were having the perfect summer night in Byrd Park.

Woman may born you, love you and mourn you
But a woman is a sometime thing
Yes, a woman is a sometime thing

3 comments:

  1. That's one of my favorite musicals. Sorry I missed it. I did, however, use your post as the basis for a post at byrdpark.net.

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  2. I feel so...used.

    Glad to be of service. They're doing "A Servant of Two Masters" this Thursday through Sunday at the Dell and I saw it back in January when Henley Street first put it on. It wsa one of the most hysterical, not to mention brilliant productions, I've seen in RVA.

    More chances to enjoy the free summer magic at the Dell!

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  3. One if these bats flew and brushed my hair. Does anyone know what type of bat these are and if they are safe??

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